Condenser arrangement



- 2 7 May 13, 1941. E. s. THOMPSON CONDENSER ARRANGEMENT Filed June 28, 1939 Inventor. Edward S.Thompson,

b is Attorney.

Patented May 13, 1941 CONDENSER ARRANGEMENT Edward S. Thompson, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application June 28, 1939, Serial No. 281,560

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to condenser arrangement, more particularly to arrangements for removing air and other non-condensables from a condenser boiler and for supplying makeup mercury liquid to a mercury seal.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved construction and arrangement of the type above specified whereby a mercury seal is fed with clean mercury liquid from an auxiliary condenser receiving non-condensables from a main condenser.

For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the following description and the claims appended thereto in connection with the accompanying drawing.

The single figure of the drawing illustrates an arrangement in accordance with my invention.

The arrangement shown in the drawing comprises a main condenser or condenser boiler l having a condensing chamber H for receiving mercury vapor from a turbine or like source, not shown. The vapor is condensed as it comes into contact with cooling tubes |2 in the condensing chamber. These tubes have upper ends connected to a chamber |3 for receiving cooling medium such as water through a supply conduit 14. In practice the condensate forming in the chamber H is ordinarily discharged to a mercury boiler, not shown. The vapor in the condensing chamber normally contains some air or other non-condensables leaking into the turbine connected to the condenser. These non-condensables are removed through a perforated tube l5 disposed within the main condenser and connected to an auxiliary condenser |6 located adjacent and supported on the main condenser. A conduit I1 serves to connect an upper portion of the auxiliary condenser IE to a vacuum pump (not shown) in order to create a vacuum in the auxiliary condenser l6 and thereby to cause the non-condensables to flow from the main condenser into the auxiliary condenser. In practice some condensables, in the present instance mercury liquid and vapor, are entrained in the non-condensables. Separation of the liquid and vapor entrained in the non-condensables is effected in the auxiliary condenser by means including a cooling coil I8 disposed within the auxiliary condenser and connected to receive cooling liquid, in the present instance water, and discharge it-through the aforementioned conduit |4 into the chamber I3. The condensate formed in the auxiliary condenser collects at the bottom portion thereof and is at least partly returned to the main condenser by means of an overflow pipe I 9. Another portion of the condensate in the auxiliary condenser is conducted through a pipe to serve as make-up liquid for a sealing arrangement 2|. In order to prevent the discharge of dirt through the pipe 20, a sealing balile 22 is provided in the lower portion of the auxiliary condenser. The sealing bafile forms a space or chamber which has an op'ening in the present instance formed between the lower edge of the baflie and. the bottom of the condenser, that is, at a level below the normal liquid level in the auxiliary condenser. Thus the sealing bafile forms a chamber which during operation constitutes a source of clean mercury. Access of dirt supplied through the connection between the auxiliary condenser and the main condenser to the sealing chamber is prevented. The pipe 20 projects into the space formed by the sealing baffie 22 and said space is vented by a pipe 23 to assure that the space is always filled with liquid. With this arrangement dirt contained in the noncondensables and removed therefrom in the auxiliary condenser collects on the surface of the mercury pool formed in the auxiliary condenser and is discharged therefrom through the pipe l9 into the main condenser. The sealing arrangement 2| comprises a turbine casing 24 having an opening on its low pressure end through which a rotary shaft 25 projects. The shaft is sealed to the casing 24 by means including a rotatable cup 26 on the shaft 25 and a stationary vane member 21 carried on the casing by means of bolts 28 and projecting into the cup 26. Mercury liquid is conducted to the sealing cup 26 by means of a conduit 29 having one end connected to receive mercury liquid from a tank 3|. The tank 3| has a vent 32 whereby atmospheric pressure is established above the mercury liquid therein. During operation the atmospheric pressure in the tank 3| forces mercury liquid through the pipe 29 and the channel 30 into the cup 26 in which the pressure is below atmosphere due to its communication with the low pressure side or the condenser side of the turbine to be sealed. The difierence in pressure in the cup 26 and the tank 3| forces an excess of liquid mercury into the cup and thereby sets up a positive flow which is desirable in order to remove the heat caused by the friction of the cup rotating and carrying the liquid around the vane 21. The excess mercury spills over into an annular chamber 33, whence the liquid is returned to the tank 3| by a pipe 34. The heat in the liquid caused by the friction is removed in the tank 3| by means of a cooling coil 35 disposed therein. During operation some of the mercury contained in the cooling cup 26 flows along a labyrinth packing 36 formed between the shaft and the vane member 21 into an annular pocket 3'! formed in the casing 24. From this pocket 3! the liquid is discharged through a pipe 38 which may be connected to the condenser chamber 1 I or any other suitable point.

A deflecting vane 39 is formed on the shaft 25 and projects into the pocket 31, thereby deflecting the mercury flowing along the shaft into said pocket or, from another viewpoint, preventing such mercury from leaking beyond the pocke" The aforementioned mercury pool formed in the auxiliary condenser serves as a source for making up for the leakage of liquid into the pocket 31. To this end the conduit 29 is connected to the tank 3|. A valve 40 is provided in the conduit 20 to control the flow of liquid thereth'rough. The valve may be adjusted so that the make-up liquid supplied to the tank 3| balances the leakage into the annular pocket 31. In the present instance I have shown means for automatically positioning the valve 40 in response to changes of the liquid level in the tank 3|. This means comprises a difierential pressure-responsive device 41 which has a diaphragm 42 connected to the valve 40 and biased towards opening position by means of a spring 43. The lefthand side of the diaphragm is connected by a pipe 44 to the liquid space in the tank 3| and the right-hand side of the diaphragm is connected by a pipe 45 to the space above the liquid in the tank 3|. Thus the pressure through the pipe 44 balances the forces created by the pressure through the pipe 45 and the spring 43. During operation a drop of the liquid level in tank 3| causes a drop in pressure on the left-hand side of the diaphragm 42, whereby the diaphragm moves towards the left by the action of the spring 43, thus opening the valve 40 to allow liquid from the auxiliary condenser IE to enter the tank 3!.

By my invention I have provided an improved arrangement for condensing mercury liquid entrained in the non-condensables and separating from the condensate any dirt contained therein, thus providing a source of clean mercury for supplying sealing liquid to a mercury sealing arrangement.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:-

1. In a mercury power plant, an auxiliary condenser having a connection for receiving non- I condensables and mercury entrained therein, a cooling element in the auxiliary condenser to effect condensation of the mercury entrained in the non-condensables, and means in the auxliary condenser forming a chamber with an opening below the normal liquid level in the condenser to prevent access of dirt from the connection to the chamber.

2. In a mercury power plant, an auxiliary condenser having a connection for receiving noncondensables from a main condenser, means including a cooling coil located within the auxiliary condenser to effect separation of mercury entrained in the condensables, a pipe for returning condensate from the auxiliary condenser to such main condenser, and a sealing baflie in the auxiliary condenser below the connection to said pipe to form a chamber having an opening below the normal liquid level in the condenser and normally to constitute a source of clean mercury.

3. In a mercury power plant, a tank for supplying mercury to a mercury seal, and means for supplying clean mercury liquid to said tank comprising an auxiliary condenser for receiving non-condensables from a main condenser and condensing mercury entrained in the non-condensables, said auxiliary condenser having a discharge opening above its bottom, through which some of the condensate is discharged, a sealing bafile forming a chamber having an opening below the discharge opening for admitting clean mercury to the chamber, a pipe connecting said chamber to the tank, and means including a valve in said pipe for controlling the fiow of liquid therethrough.

4. In a mercury power plant, a mercury supply system comprising a tank, and means for supplying clean mercury liquid to said tank comprising an auxiliary condenser for receiving non-condensables from a main condenser, said auxiliary condenser having a discharge opening above its bottom, a sealing bafile below the discharge opening forming a chamber for containing clean mercury, the chamber having an opening below the discharge opening, a pipe connecting an upper portion of said chamber to the tank, a valve in said pipe and a device responsive to changes of liquid level in the tank for automatically positioning the valve.

5. In a mercury power plant, an auxiliary condenser for receiving non-condensables and for condensing mercury entrained in the non-condensables, said auxiliary condenser having a discharge opening for mercury liquid above its bottom, a sealing bafile below the discharge opening forming a chamber with an opening below the discharge opening to effect communication between the chamber and the interior of the auxilary condenser, and a pipe for discharging mercury liquid from said chamber..

EDWARD S. THOMPSON. 

